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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. key — the most important part
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. degree — temperature
  7. clip — to cut
  8. cold — not warm
  9. key — for a lock
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cold — an illness
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. vault — a safe
  14. rule — a law
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. rule — government
  17. key — in music
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. clip — a video
  23. degree — from a university
  24. stick — a piece of wood

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com